The man described as Manly’s X-factor is set to return to NRL football this weekend after 344 days on the sidelines.
Brett Stewart, who is on the comeback from consecutive season-ending knee injuries, was named in Manly’s 24-man squad to take on New Zealand in Auckland on Saturday night.
It will be the electrifying fullback’s first match since round one last season, when he suffered a knee injury while making a try-saving tackle on Wests Tigers’ winger Lote Tuqiri.
The news was met with excitement by Stewart’s team-mates who have missed the former Australian representative’s try-scoring prowess for all but six games in the past two seasons. Continue reading
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David Williams produced the perfect return from injury, scoring a double in his first game in more than a year in Manly’s 18-0 NRL trial victory over Cronulla. “The Wolfman” opened the scoring with his first touch of the ball on Friday night when he pounced on a pin-point grubber from utility forward Terence Seuseu in the 11th minute. Williams was in again 20 minutes into the second half, capitalising on some good lead-up work from Joe Galuvao to crash over and cap off the dream return. But it was in the 35th minute that Williams’ shoulder overcame its biggest test as he was crunched by two Cronulla enforcers, before bouncing up and high-fiving team-mates. 
